Paul Goble, originally on Window on Eurasia

Rally in Simferopol. Photo via Крим SOS facebook page

Staunton, May 18 – Despite a ban on any demonstrations by the Russian occupation authorities and a decision by the Milli Mejlis not to hold a mass commemoration lest it become the occasion for a Russian provocation, thousands of Crimean Tatars have assembled in their homeland today to mark the 70th anniversary of their deportation by Stalin.